RedlineMan
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2012
- Location
- Vestal NY
Howdy All;
A small acquisition.
Dad bought an Asian floor standing DP many years ago. It drills holes, but does absolutely nothing for the soul, and has so much spindle runout that starting a drill in a pilot hole is an adventure, even using a vice. It will soon fall to Craigslist for disposal to someone less interested in history than simply punching holes. Enter the Walker-Turner Model D950 15" DP. A rare look at Craigslist found me this little guy just up the road. Neat place, cool guy, and I didn't even bother dickering him on the $90 asking price. The spindle runs smooth and silent, and the table has but two dings. Off to the shop for discovery of the mysteries that invariably come as part of any such acquisition.
This DP seems to be from the 1940-47 time frame, and has a couple of options. One is the gear and screw driven head raising mechanism. I thought it odd that you would prefer raising the head, to instead having the optional table raising mechanism, but I guess I can see where it might be useful, if only very occasionally. I must say that with everything cleaned and lubed, it works surprisingly well, and does its job with much less physical and mechanical effort required than I suspected. This item offered the first repair opportunity.
As is often the case, at some point, someone of dubious mechanical sensitivity decided the clamping bolt used to hold the assembly to the column needed significantly more tightening than was required, and managed to snap one ear off the clamp. Quite possibly, the task of enjoining a repair fell to the same chap, and while he did achieve a usable fix, it was far from aesthetically pleasing. I decided it needed something more satisfying, and whipped out a quick alternative that is less aggravating to the senses. More pleasingly shaped, and adding countersunk screws instead of hex bolts.
The inside of the gear cover provides a decent idea of what the color may have been.
Another option the DP has is the adjustable angle table. With a pivot bolt and locking pin underneath, it can be set to any radial angle needed. As I was getting things back together, one of the mysteries arose as I noted that the spindle did not line up with the clearance hole in the center of the table? Only two minor strikes on the perimeter of this hole is fairly remarkable, given this puzzling misalignment.
I made a spacer plate of exactly 1/2" thickness, nicely shaped of course, which solved the alignment problem, but the mystery of why it was the way it was remains. Another mystery in this pic is the base. It is obviously not the same color, in a pleasing charcoal metallic, as the drab green inside the head raising gear cover, nor the table, which is a lighter solid grey.
Was this DP sold by Sears? It seemed a possibility. Then, this base bears no resemblance to any of the W-T catalog pics I've managed to find. In the end, I am forced to believe that someone somehow managed to break the original base, and this one presented itself as a worthy replacement. In fact, this base has a much more elegant system for affixing it to the column, with a single set screw pressing against an internal saddle that in turn wedges against the column. Cleaning the column, and finding other pics of similar DPs on the web revealed the far less efficient double set screw marks cut into this column by the original and far cruder base assembly. No, this one is not correct, but I like it.
A small acquisition.
Dad bought an Asian floor standing DP many years ago. It drills holes, but does absolutely nothing for the soul, and has so much spindle runout that starting a drill in a pilot hole is an adventure, even using a vice. It will soon fall to Craigslist for disposal to someone less interested in history than simply punching holes. Enter the Walker-Turner Model D950 15" DP. A rare look at Craigslist found me this little guy just up the road. Neat place, cool guy, and I didn't even bother dickering him on the $90 asking price. The spindle runs smooth and silent, and the table has but two dings. Off to the shop for discovery of the mysteries that invariably come as part of any such acquisition.
This DP seems to be from the 1940-47 time frame, and has a couple of options. One is the gear and screw driven head raising mechanism. I thought it odd that you would prefer raising the head, to instead having the optional table raising mechanism, but I guess I can see where it might be useful, if only very occasionally. I must say that with everything cleaned and lubed, it works surprisingly well, and does its job with much less physical and mechanical effort required than I suspected. This item offered the first repair opportunity.
As is often the case, at some point, someone of dubious mechanical sensitivity decided the clamping bolt used to hold the assembly to the column needed significantly more tightening than was required, and managed to snap one ear off the clamp. Quite possibly, the task of enjoining a repair fell to the same chap, and while he did achieve a usable fix, it was far from aesthetically pleasing. I decided it needed something more satisfying, and whipped out a quick alternative that is less aggravating to the senses. More pleasingly shaped, and adding countersunk screws instead of hex bolts.
The inside of the gear cover provides a decent idea of what the color may have been.
Another option the DP has is the adjustable angle table. With a pivot bolt and locking pin underneath, it can be set to any radial angle needed. As I was getting things back together, one of the mysteries arose as I noted that the spindle did not line up with the clearance hole in the center of the table? Only two minor strikes on the perimeter of this hole is fairly remarkable, given this puzzling misalignment.
I made a spacer plate of exactly 1/2" thickness, nicely shaped of course, which solved the alignment problem, but the mystery of why it was the way it was remains. Another mystery in this pic is the base. It is obviously not the same color, in a pleasing charcoal metallic, as the drab green inside the head raising gear cover, nor the table, which is a lighter solid grey.
Was this DP sold by Sears? It seemed a possibility. Then, this base bears no resemblance to any of the W-T catalog pics I've managed to find. In the end, I am forced to believe that someone somehow managed to break the original base, and this one presented itself as a worthy replacement. In fact, this base has a much more elegant system for affixing it to the column, with a single set screw pressing against an internal saddle that in turn wedges against the column. Cleaning the column, and finding other pics of similar DPs on the web revealed the far less efficient double set screw marks cut into this column by the original and far cruder base assembly. No, this one is not correct, but I like it.
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